Chapter 39 Apprenticeship
The next morning, the chef of Shaguoju came with his apprentices.

The apprentices carried loads on their shoulders, which contained not only various clay pots but also blue bricks, which were prepared for building stoves.

There was no need for mortar or lime. The apprentices built two stoves in the yard using only blue bricks. Building a stove is also a technical job, as the blue bricks need to be laid crosswise back and forth.

The stove was finally built. Looking from the outside, the bricks were all neatly arranged in triangles, layer upon layer, with a neat beauty.

Shaguoju emphasizes "roasting and boiling" and another characteristic is that the pork has no skin. This is because Shaguoju's origins can be traced back to the many royal palaces of the Qing Dynasty.

The Manchus in the Qing Dynasty always had the custom of shamanistic sacrifices, especially in the palace and the royal palace, where they were held almost every day. The sacrifices were white meat and steamed buns. The white meat that could not be eaten was sold to Shaguoju at a low price by the servants of the royal palace.
The Manchus have the habit of peeling the skin, so the white meat in Shaguoju has always been without skin.

"Roast" refers to frying and braising; "burn" refers to baking and roasting; the other is boiling the meat, so it is called "burn, burn, boil, and cook".

There is one more thing worth mentioning: Before the Japanese occupation, Sha Guo Ju was open only half a day, and after noon, it would take down the sign and close. Basically, all the food was sold out in the morning. But once the Japanese occupied Beijing, they also wanted to eat at night, so Sha Guo Ju was forced to stay open all day.
Some Shandong dishes were newly added during the Japanese occupation: nine-turn large intestine, garlic tripe strips, stir-fried three kinds, tripe cubes, stir-fried tripe shreds with coriander, and vegetarian grilled eggplant.
When the chef of Shaguoju arrived, he leisurely directed his apprentices to work with a chair, a square table, a pot of tea and a cigarette, and basically did not ask for help. Only when the guests arrived did he start to work himself.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Mr. Rong Yaxuan, the fourth master of Rong, Xia Xiwu, came to the door with his son-in-law and apprentice Wu Dinghuan, carrying tea from "Wang Yuanchang Tea House" and steamed buns from "Qingmingzhai".

"Second Brother Chang!"

"Master Chang!"

"Doctor Xia! Please do me the honor of coming in!"

"Is this your son-in-law? He is handsome and a real talent!" After Old Man Chang welcomed Doctor Xia Xiwu and the other two into the central hall of Courtyard 81, he immediately introduced Wang Shuqin: "This is Deming's mother, Lady Yan Wang, Shuqin."

Xia Xiwu did not dare to neglect it and immediately leaned forward and saluted: "Hello sister-in-law, you gave birth to a good son!"

"I liked Deming the first time I met him, and I took the initiative to accept him as my disciple without your consent beforehand!"

Wang Shuqin bowed slightly, "Teacher Xia, I am very grateful for your appreciation of Deming. You have given my son a bright future!"

"Serious words, serious words!"

"Master Xia, please take a seat," Wang Shuqin ushered Xia Xiwu to the seat facing south and back north, and called Wang Deming over: "Deming, serve tea to your master and kowtow!"

Wang Deming held a cup of tea above his head in a proper manner, took two steps forward, and knelt on both knees, "Master, please have some tea!"

"Okay, haha!" Xia Xiwu stroked his long beard, took the teacup with both hands, took a sip, put the teacup aside, took out a handwritten medical book "The Golden Mirror of the Medical Tradition - The Essentials of Bone Setting" from his pocket, and handed it to Wang Deming with both hands.

"Deming."

"Manipulation is the most important thing in bone correction."

“Touch, connect, hold, lift, press, rub, push, and grasp. All bone-setting techniques are based on the mastery and application of these eight basic techniques.”

“Once you are in the clinic, the mechanism is felt from the outside, and the skill is born from the inside. The hands move with the heart, and the method comes from the hands. You may pull it apart and put it back together, or push it back and put it back in place, or straighten it out, or complete its incompleteness. Then the broken, oblique, or shattered bones, the loosening, curling, contraction, turning, and separation of the tendons, can be felt by the hands, and the patient will know the situation. The method is applied so that the patient does not feel the pain. This is called manual method.”

"Disciple, do you understand?"

Wang Deming was still kneeling on the ground, holding up the medical book with both hands, and replied loudly: "The application of the law makes the patient feel no pain!"

"Good, good, good disciple!" Elder Xia Xiwu was very pleased and said three good words in a row, and stretched out his hand to help, "Hurry up and get up!"

"Yes!"

Old Man Chang and Fourth Master Rong congratulated together: "Brother Xiwu, congratulations on having such a good disciple!"

"Congratulations, congratulations! Haha."

"Brother Xiwu, please take a seat!"

"you are welcome!"

Wang Shuqin knelt down to greet him at the right time: "Teacher Xia, this is just a simple cup of tea and wine to show my gratitude. I will take my leave first."

"Thank you, sister-in-law, for the hospitality!"

As the men took their seats, Wang Shuqin followed the women in the family and left Courtyard 81 and went to Courtyard 82 to have their meal separately.

"Master Wu, please prepare the dishes!"

"Okay, sir, we'll arrange it right away!"

"Burn the disc!"

The small dish of Ba Liucun: fried spare ribs, fried kidney, fried fat rolls, fried tenderloin, fried pig intestines, fried liver tips, fried zi gao, and fried face;

"Serve the three whites!" Three large plates: white meat, white sausage, and white tripe that have been stewed in a casserole and cooled, cut into plates, and five small bowls: dipping oil, mashed garlic, pickled chives, fermented bean curd juice, and chili oil;

"Elbow on the paste!"

A large plate: golden roasted, boneless pork elbow, cut into pieces;
“Stuffed tofu and vermicelli with Chinese cabbage.”

Only the last casserole stuffed tofu and casserole cabbage vermicelli were served in small casseroles.

"Come, Doctor Xia, have a taste of my treasured Niulanshan Erguotou!" Old Man Chang raised his cup to start the meal. It was just a teacup. "I have been in Li (Lijiao) for many years. I don't drink or smoke. Let Yaxuan (Mr. Rong Siye) accompany you more."

"Deming, Youguang, you two should keep Senior Brother Wu company."

"Second Master Chang, Fourth Master Rong told me that you can have it, this Erguotou is very powerful!"

"Haha, then drink a few more glasses."

As the wine flowed, the atmosphere at the table gradually became lively. Old Man Chang, Fourth Master Rong, and Doctor Xia were all old bannermen who had received imperial rations during the Qing Dynasty.

Because the rice they distributed was stale rice, which was actually not very tasty, but the three old men still missed it with a look of regret on their faces.

"Well, Doctor Xia, Yaxuan (Mr. Rong Siye) found me some old rice (aged rice) before, about 5 kilograms, so this is the last resort."

"As for me, I can't bear to eat it. I only cook a little bit when I feel hungry. Today, you happened to be here and there was some left. I asked the chef from Shaguoju to make it for us."

"Oh, this old Mi is not easy to find now! Fourth Master Rong, where else can you find him?"

"It's the gang from our Ministry of Internal Affairs. They are descendants of Zeng Chong, the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Qinlao Hutong, and their eldest grandson Cunqi. We met once in the "ethnic training class" in the Nationalities Park. After chatting, I found out that they still had some left, so they asked me to come over."

"What a coincidence! Deming bought two houses a few days ago. He bought the house of the seventeenth master and his wife of the Zeng family."

"What a pity! The old lady now only has a back room to live in."

"Master Chang, Master Rong, for us bannermen, it's good enough that we can survive till now and still have food to eat!"

"Think about it, what kind of world was it in the past few years? If the crops were gone, then they were gone. After all, we, the bannermen, who spent our days fighting cocks and walking dogs, were all ruined."

"But first it was the Beiyang government, then the Japanese, and then the skinheads. It wasn't easy for us to survive!"

"Yes! Yes!"

"The new government is also tolerant of us bannermen. We have handed over the land outside the city, and they didn't hold us accountable. Moreover, the cemetery is reserved for us. As long as we don't do anything illegal and live a down-to-earth life, it will be much better than before!"

"Yes!"

The three old men talked about Peking Opera again. All the Bannermen loved Peking Opera. "Mr. Rong Si, your Ji family's Mr. Ji Wenping founded the "Le Ya He Yun Society" in Mahua Hutong, which was crowded with fans back then!"

"Especially Mr. Ji Wenping's Wusheng, his singing of "Golden Leopard" is no worse than the actors on stage!"

"Mr. Rong Si, what role do you usually like to sing?"

"Haha, I'm a clown!"

"Hey, how about a song? I'll clap for you?"

"Okay! Then I'll tell you about the "Case of the Beheading of a Beauty." "Ahem!" "Your Highness, please come closer and take a closer look. It says that Qin Xianglian is 32 years old and is suing the current Prince Consort. She has brought the complaint to your hall."

"Good! Fourth Master Rong, you are a master of Qiu style painted face, you are really good at it!"

"Haha, thank you very much. Doctor Xia, would you like to perform a piece as well?"

"Haha, OK, I'll sing a piece from Lao Sheng, 'Huaihe Camp'."

"You can't make a fool of yourself in this world. How can you hide your nonsense from us?"

"it is good."

Soon, Chang Youguang joined in and sang a piece from "Three Family Stores": "Stand at the main street, and listen to the guests and friends who pass by, if you are not a bandit or a robber, you will be exiled to Dengzhou."

Won rounds of applause.

Wang Deming accompanied his senior brother Wu Dinghuan in drinking, and from time to time he whispered to him about some taboos and habits of his master.

The wine was just flowing, when suddenly a group of people rushed in:
"Who says Chang Youguang?"

(End of this chapter)